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Since 2008, Marvel Studios, the company behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has created 19 films based off of iconic Marvel Comics characters. Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange. Their biggest, most spectacle-filled franchise has always been the Avengers films. The first Avengers, when adjusted for inflation, is still the highest grossing Marvel film of all time.

Despite their success, Marvel has never tackled a film quite as big, or quite as risky, as Avengers: Infinity War. With an enormous cast of 40 main Marvel heroes and villains filling the roster, it was a big gamble to produce. As was expected, the movie is an insane action fest, with fight after fight after fight. The story is there, but rarely do you find any character development, except for the villain himself, Thanos. The entire movie is a lot, and I mean a lot of visual spectacle, and not a lot of actual material….

…and yet it works. Really, really well.

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Avengers: Infinity War is, as stated earlier, the 19th film by Marvel Studios, a subsidiary of Walt Disney Studios, and a company originally created by famous comic brand Marvel for 2008’s Iron Man. However, the studio has rapidly grown in size since then, and has now created some of the most well-known blockbuster films to date, including the critically-acclaimed Black Panther.

With a supposed budget of $300,000,000, Infinity War was well-funded and on its way to being one of the biggest films of the decade, with the Russo brothers on board to direct (they had previously directed Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War).

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Out of all the things I really found stunning and shocking when I went to see this film, I think the thing that surprised me the most was how dark the film was compared to other Marvel films. This wasn’t a tension-free film. In fact, it was quite the opposite. The film itself was tense almost all the way through, the threat of death constantly looming over the shoulders of all characters.

Most of that is helped along by the writing. Though there are not many actual moments of character development, there are still a lot of good general character moments in the film, many of which bring a lot of emotion through the film, be it fear, sadness, or happiness.

The cinematography of the film was also really good. It was shot very differently from other Marvel films, with a lot of different kinds of shots that changed up the look of the film, along with quite a few interesting locales that the narrative took Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

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The score of this film is also phenomenal. It’s triumphant, it’s melancholy, it’s bittersweet; it’s a truly unique score that sound similar enough to other Marvel films to be familiar, but unique enough to be something new and interesting.

But let’s talk about the most important part of this film: the villain. Thanos is Marvel’s best villain yet. Yes, better than Killmonger. Yes, better than Vulture. The film is something unique in that Infinity War is not the story of the Avengers fighting against their strongest threat yet. Infinity War is about Thanos, and the struggles he goes through to save the universe, in his own twisted way.

In fact, if you watch closely, Thanos goes through the hero’s journey through the course of the film. His story is sad, and sympathetic, and yet he still manages to be one of Marvel’s most menacing villains yet. This film is truly special in that the antagonist is the protagonist, and that means that the viewer is allowed to see his point of view, the sacrifices he has to make.

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Avengers: Infinity War is not overhyped like Black Panther was. In fact, it’s far from it. Somehow, despite everything it had going against it, Infinity War managed to break the typical Marvel formula, defying what audiences have expected so far, and bringing prospects of a bright future to fans everywhere.